Wawanesa Auto Insurance Reviews

Had my Truck Stolen recently. The claims process was an absolute nightmare, the adjuster felt her only role was to watch from the sidelines and deny expenses, not helping me through the process, no consultation, no helping deal with the Autobody shop, could not even reach her by phone. Always had to e-mail. My truck was gone for 3 months for repair and came back with a list of issues that I needed to "deal with through the Autobody shop" or fix myself. I was paying insurance for 2 specific reasons 1)to get me back to the place I was before the event 2)to have a helping hand when I did have an issue Instead I got a distant accountant. When I asked to dispute claims items that decided by her with no agreement or consultation with me, I was told here's our dispute mechanism- hire your own appraiser and they can fight it out with ours. Good luck making that work for you. By the way the Appraiser was also terrible, the shop evaluated that my truck needed a batch of Front end work that it did not need (have pics to prove), instead of maybe actually taking a look he just reported to the adjuster only and they agreed to disallow the work meaning no mechanical work was done at all. I got back a truck with a large list of repairs and less functionality. On top of that, I have to deal with the shop warranty process with no help. Stay away from this company!

If you are in an accident, they will not help you, they will scam you into signing wrong forms so they don’t have to pay, they will not cover what is prescribed, they will take months to reply, you will never be allowed to speak to a supervisor, you will suffer more than you ever thought possible. Even lawyers can’t access a supervisor after 2 years. They will never have your back. Stay away from them if you care about anyone who rides in your car.

I was going to hold off on writing a bad review, but after yesterday's experience I have had enough. I was in an accident a few months ago where I was making a right hand turn and was hit by someone who switched lanes in the intersection. Right from the start I experienced awful and callous customer service. My adjuster told me in our initial call that I was probably at fault; this was before she even looked into my case. I was never given any information on how to get a rental car while my car was in the shop. After a week of her ignoring my phone calls and emails, I called her supervisor to complain. He was surprised that I hadn't received a rental car and promptly ordered me one (though that wasn't supposed to be his job).

About a month after the accident I got my car back. However, the body shop or the appraiser hadn't done their due diligence and I found out the hard way that my radiator was broken and had not been assessed and fixed properly. So back to the shop it went. At the time, the shop told me it should have been a write off.

Fast forward a few months and the transmission line popped off, leaving me stranded in a parking lot. The body shop again said the car should have been a write off but paid to have the problem fixed.

Yesterday my car died AGAIN, and I think it's due to the transmission damage caused by all the fluid leaking at once. I now have a car that is not driveable in the middle of a cold snap. It's so fun walking to the bus stop. I should mention that I never heard from Wawanesa after they approved the initial repair on my car. I had to find out from a broker at State Farm that I was declared 100 percent at fault for the accident.

A loyal customer for 10 years, with this being my first ever claim, and this is how I was treated. Do yourself a favor and stay far, far away from Wawanesa. The money you save on your monthly insurance will all be spent on keeping your car on the road after you make a claim with them!

My truck was just stolen from my property, and i called to Wawanesa and was informed that my coverage doesnt include theft or rental! So pretty much screwed! Really whats the point of having that coverage in the event of a theft? I don’t recommend Wawanesa to anyone

Sure, the rates may be cheap but there's no peace of mind in relation to their service. Read below for an explanation:

In 2012 I got into a vehicle accident and filed a claim that day and provided a claim number. I was told I would have an adjuster contact me in 72 hours. About a week went by with no update so I gave them a call again only to find they had no record of my previous claim and needed me to file a claim all over again. I was told again that an adjuster would be in contact with me in 72 hours. So I waited.

A few weeks go by and I'm getting notified by the other party's adjuster that the other party has contacted a lawyer as they believe I'm not cooperating. I panic and call again. Shockingly, they have no record of my claim. Again.

So submit a claim for the third time, and because it's been escalated I was told someone would contact me within 48 hours. In true Wawanesa fashion, I don't hear back until I hound them for an adjuster. Finally, the glorious moment happens where they got me and adjuster and the issue was wrapped up in less than a week.

I go on with my life, thinking everything is OK, and then nearly two years later I get an email from a lawyer saying they need my address to serve me a civil lawsuit. I panic. How am I going to afford a lawyer? What is going to happen to me? What am I supposed to do? Will Wawanesa help me seeing as I was insured with them at the time?

I gave them a call and spoke with someone who let me know "Oh, we've known about this litigation for awhile and even hired a lawyer to represent you. I'm sorry we didn't tell you (not that I was the main defendant in the case or anything) and we'll make a note to follow up with you every few months".

As you can imagine, I have a hard time trusting them for their word. So, I keep an eye on the case online. I see the occasionally update from my lawyer (a person I had never met and didn't try to contact me at all). Documents get filed, progress is happening. Then it comes to a standstill on September 17th, 2015.

I spent the next 10 months chronically checking for updates on the case and wondering when my life can keep going. I'm holding off on job applications and house applications because I don't know what is going to happen.

People are busy and litigation can take years, but it got to the point where I finally needed to know what was happening. I emailed the lawyer I had never spoken with to see if he knew who I was and what was happening. To my surprise, the whole thing had been dealt with almost a year before. But again, no one decided to tell me. Not like I was involved or anything.

So, in closing, I do not recommend this company. They don't seem to understand that when something terrible happens and you need your insurance (that you dutifully pay for), the smallest things, like keeping your word and providing updates when things get scary, actually matter.

1 vehicle years ago- deer hit- car had to go in shop twice because the appraiser missed damage. Customer service throughout was awe full.
new vehicle- parking lot hit- had to go in shop twice appraiser again missed damage! customer service is absolutelly horrible: the works for both, runarounds, passing me off, passing blame through every contact and not a single apology, in 6 months my policy is up for renewal and I will not be. Great way to treat customers with a over a decade of loyalty.

I made a claim with wawanesa for hail on my brand new car. I was told multiple times to just continue to drive the car even though the windows were broken. I have had to make so many phone calls and no one answers the phone or returns calls. By far the worst customer service experience I have ever had. What's the point in having insurance if they won't help you when you need them?

I had called to get a quote for a new auto insurance rate because I was moving from the city to a small town and my broker was busy. I wanted to compare quotes so I called the main office to get a quote before they closed (it was a Friday and I didn't want to wait until Monday for just a quote) "Someone will call you back shortly" was the only reply I got; I never got that call. My broker called me on Monday and I flat out said I wanted to cancel my insurance because I found a better rate. He tried to suggest finding comparable rates with them but I refused and cancelled my insurance. A few days later my online banking showed that they took the money out (there wasn't enough so it was reimbursed and I got charged $45 for insufficient funds). I called to ask why they hadn't informed me that the cancellation process took a while before being put into effect "I'm sorry, you should've asked directly if that was your concern". After angrily hanging up on them, I left it. A week later I am being charged a $45 insufficient funds fee AGAIN because apparently "customer satisfaction" means that they do not inform clients while cancelling that they should expect the process to take a few weeks and the charges may still continue. "Wawanesa Insurance is committed to providing superior products and service for our customers." that's the first statement under their Customer Satisfaction section and it's nothing but a lie; I have now paid $90 due to their extreme lack of customer satisfaction values.

I had Wawanesa as an insurer and received a back injury in a car accident when another driver ran a red light and crashed into me. Since then they have been a pain to deal with. They are impossible to reach, ignore or lose medical receipts so you have to resubmit the expense and deny any tests or treatment plans to help you recover. But they take your money quick enough. Delayed paying out on car which was a right off and took forever to get income replacement benefits. They offer minimal coverage for treatment and refuse all tests so you have to pay for them. They then send you to their specialist who no matter what your doctor, independent tests and treatment reports show he will tell you and them that you are able to return to work. All this to reduce the settlement since they say you can work or force you to settle for less since they refuse to pay any more benefits or treatment or for pain medication. So basically you have to apply for Ontario Works which does not work if you have a spouse earning their minimum cutoff, ODSP which takes months and is always denied at first or Canada Pension Disability which also takes months. So in meantime as a divorced dad with no income my children do without child support, and you become delinquent and FRO suspends your licence. Or you can attempt to go to work and if injured or aggravates your injury you are not covered by WSIB for pre existing injury, Wawanesa cares nothing about their customers, just putting money in their pocket.

Car hit by another person in August, insurance did not try to get us top dollar for car, they also declared salvage status on car before we settled and it was still road worthy? Can you say bargaining in bad faith, forced us to take off road and get another vehicle out of pocket right away before settled in Nov 2013, eventually got paid more than offered but the tactic of declaring car as salvage status when road worthy was ludicrous... why no class action law suits yet baffles the mind.

They eventually come up a $1000 from what they said and let us keep the car in end as salvage which was better than what we were first offered which was at least $1500 below market value even with higher kms, have not sold car as salvage yet, but should get $1200, so made out better in end than if I had sold on market wholesale, but not if I had accepted their low offer to start with!!

Son was quoted about $125 per month, after he asked them to check his grid level due to tickets and a suspension, they claimed he did not divulge everything, then took out three months of premiums out of his account in one shot at $260 x 3 months = $780, over double what he was quoted, I told him to go elsewhere before that but he did not listen... live and learn!! That was just for comp an PL no collision coverage! He called to cancel, they still took another payment out, then said oh by the way you have to sign this and send it back to us (the broker), over 3 weeks later, then did not send a policy or pink slips out on time so technically was driving with out insurance for two weeks until I told him to park and cancel in writing... of course they said he would get his money back (less min. retained premium at higher amount? and 1 month plus beyond when he quit driving... time will tell, still waiting for that form and credit back??

We cannot move insurers until two open home claims settled so why would I use them again in future after I can change insurers!!